


From Make-up to Makeouts

by cheriiato



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-31
Updated: 2019-08-03
Packaged: 2020-07-27 22:17:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20053423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cheriiato/pseuds/cheriiato
Summary: Lance McClain's SUPER SIMPLE guide to getting your mega hot make-up artist to fall for you!!!This is so self indulgent but I was really inspired to do makeup artist Keith.





	1. Chapter 1

Romelle giggled as she pointed to a shop across from them, illuminated by a little "open" sign and cute little lights and posters scattered around. "There!"

Lance wandered up to the small store, hand in Romelle's and smile on his face. "You wanna go here," he asked, head tilting as he looked over at her. She nodded, her blonde pigtails bouncing beside her.

"Let's! It'll be fun to get our makeup done. Just like I did back in highschool!" She swung their hands once before pushing the door open, walking into the quaint shop. She hopped over to one of the waiting chairs and sat down, flipping excitedly through one of the magazines they had set out. "What do you think you'll go for? I'm thinking more of a warm look on myself," she rambled.

"Melle," he started, kicking his feet in the chair. "I haven't done any of this before. I honestly have no clue what I'm doing."

"Well, that's okay!" she declared. "You'll have someone who does know what they're doing so you won't have to worry much." She grabbed his face and examined him, squishing his cheeks and playing with his hair some as well. "I personally think a more natural look with cool hints would look best on you to be quite honest. I have some photos you can look through so just show them the one you like and you should be alright." She handed him her phone before setting down her magazine and walking off to the counter. 

Lance nodded cautiously, still not quite understanding anything she was saying. Soon after, Romelle came back and went right back to bouncing in her seat.

"They're a bit busy today, but they should be done with two people in about 15 to 20 minutes so it gives you plenty of time to browse what you want. I can help if you'd like!"

"Yeah, I think that'd be helpful," Lance chuckled nervously, scrolling through images on Pinterest.

After many minutes of searching and Romelle gushing over different make-up blogs, they were invited to sit down in what Lance had simply dubbed the "special makeup chairs" because how was he supposed to know what they were called? They were told to just wait a couple more minutes and their make-up artists would be with them.

Soon enough, they were, and quite honestly? Lance had never wished more that he knew what he was talking about. His artist stood in front of him with a piercing gaze mixed with a small smile. "Hey, I'm Keith."

Lance wanted to say something, but it was almost as if his words had just fled the building. He smiled and eventually -he thinks- choked out his name. His makeup artist- Keith- just chuckles at him, holding out his hand to shake.

"No need to be nervous, Lance. I guess it's safe to assume you aren't great with strangers?"

Lance just grabbed Keith's hand and shook it, using his free hand to rub the back of his neck. "Not the best, no. Sorry, just a bit startled." 

Truth be told, Lance was normally absolutely amazing with strangers. He'd strike up conversations with whomever he passed, and by the time they parted ways he could have just another friendly face.

But those people weren't generally drop-dead gorgeous like this 'Keith" person seemed to be.

Keith shook his head, his calm smile resting on his face. "No need to apologise," he started as he clipped Lance's hair out of his face. "I wasn't really either, but having to talk to at least three new people for a couple hours everyday makes you sorta overcome that. That, or you get some really awkward interactions. A little bit of both honestly," Keith chuckled to himself.

Lance nodded, but was slightly zoned out. It was only just now occurring to him just how long he and Keith were going to have to be here. And just how close Keith's face would be to his. Shit.

"Alright, so what kind of look are you going for?" Keith clapped his hands together, snapping Lance out of his daydream- that totally did NOT end with him and Keith sharing a goodbye kiss, thank you very much. "Uh, I actually…"

"You've never done this before, have you?" Keith asked with a teasing smile.

"That obvious?"

"Mm, only when you talk." 

"Well, what do you think would look good on me, Keith?" Lance propped his right leg up on his other, leaning back on his elbows. He noticed a small hesitation between his question and Keith's answer, and he also noticed how Keith stumbled over his words a little when he did reply.

"Uh, well," he said, grabbing Lance's face gently. He moved it slightly upwards and tilted it to the side before letting out a curt nod and continuing his sentence. "-a more natural palette I think would look good on you, and something a bit warm to bring out your eyes. Does that sound good?"

Lance just nodded again, a bit preoccupied with the hand lingering on his face. "Work your magic, pretty boy."

"Oh, uh, yeah." Keith grabbed some face wipes, cleaning his face while holding it up gently. "You have a face routine, or is it naturally this clear?" Keith tilted Lance's head again, he seemed to be doing that a lot. Probably just getting used to his face shape or something.

"Face routine," he said breathlessly as Keith moved in closer to his face to start working on his makeup.

"Thought so," he said, a satisfied smile on his face. "Your skin is really nice." He ran his hand across Lance's cheek, and Lance sure as hell felt his face heat up at that.

"Uh, mhm, thanks?" Lance cleared his throat as Keith applied some kind of light coloured makeup to his nose with a sponge. It felt weird, and he had to stop himself from saying something or twitching his nose.

"Makes my job easier at least." He chuckled a bit, pulling his hand away as to not smear the makeup. He ran his hand across Lance's chin, and tried to steady his breath. "You have a really nice jawline too. Pretty face in general. If you didn't have such an obvious lack of knowledge about it, I almost might think you had makeup on. Especially how red your cheeks are." Keith winced at himself, unbeknownst to Lance.

Lance's mind was going haywire, surely Keith was like this with everyone, right? Why did it feel so genuinely intimate to him, then? He knew he'd continue thinking about the compliments until long after his makeup was done and gone. And oh God, Keith knew he was blushing, shit, what does he do? Was he trying to flirt? I mean, he had called him pretty but that was just like, a bro kind of thing, right?

"Haha uh, yeah," Lance said, trying to ignore the way his voice cracked. He cleared his throat again and attempted to change the subject, and they continued talking and joking around as Keith worked on his makeup, not noticing as the time flew by them.

Around an hour later, Romelle's artist had just finished her own makeup and Keith was now finalising Lance's.

Now see, Lance had kept himself pretty composed throughout the day, not including when they had first met. But what he did not prepare for was the lipstick. Because that meant puckering up his lips, as if he were in some cliche movie kiss scene, in front of Keith, who, yeah, maybe he had developed a small crush on.

And this sure as hell was not helped by the way Keith looked at his lips before he applied the lipstick.

Theoretically, yes, he sorta knew something like this would happen, but god damn did he start to wish the situation was different. Keith waited for what seemed like forever, before he started to lean in. Lance almost did too, letting his eyes flutter closed before his lips came in contact with… The lipstick. Right. This, this is a makeup salon. He's doing your fucking makeup, Lance!

He went with it though, eyes still closed as Keith lightly held his chin, applying lipstick to him. Not kissing him, like he had hoped in all his lovestruck fantasies that day.

And once he had finished, Lance's first instinct was to run as quickly as he could out of there. But Keith had his head tilted and he was smiling and just so goddamn cute. So he stayed, and the four of them: him, Keith, Romelle, and her artist- who he learned to be Allura- admired the works of art that had been painted on their faces.

Keith cleared his throat, and handed Lance a mirror to check out his make-up.

And okay, listen. Lance is normally confident enough as it is. But this was, just... Wow! Keith made him look stunning, he made his blue eyes pop and made his boyish charm shine through. And it was decided then; this man was a miracle worker.

They thanked Keith and Allura and continued talking for a small while before paying and leaving the shop. As the left, Lance waved goodbye, sad that he would have to leave Keith.

When they were away, Lance thought back through the day, immediately remembering his awkward moment with the lipstick and noticeably paling as he realised that Romelle, the little shit, had seen the entire fucking thing! And left him to suffer!

"Soo," Romelle started, not missing a beat. "Gotta new boyfriend then, Lancey?"

Lance sputtered, not quite knowing how to respond. "Geez, Romelle! I just think he's kinda cute," he muttered. "No need for you to be that straightforward, either, by the way."

"There was nothing straight about it," she deadpanned.

"Romi! We're just like… Not even friends! Besides, I think he's dating that Allura girl anyways." He looked down at the ground in mild disappointment.

Romelle, however, burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?!"

"The fact that you think either of them are straight! How fucked up is your gaydar?" She laughed while she talked, and Lance felt his face heat up. "I'm like 80% sure Allura was flirting with me, and from what I could tell, Keith was doing the same with you."

"They were probably just being nice, Melle! How do you know he was actually flirting?"

Romelle glared at him briefly, before rolling her eyes. "C'mon Lance, how are you so bad at recognizing flirting? I'm the lesbian here!" 

"Oh like you're any better," he challenged, raising a brow. "Remember Ina?"

"Oh fuck off! One time! Once! I cannot believe this hate! Besides, it's so obvious that he has some interest in you, for whatever reason," she said scrunching her nose.

"I'm hurt, I really am," he sighed. "I think he seems cool, but I doubt he would ever like me as anything more than a friend."

However, that didn't seem to stop him from popping by the mall a little more often than he might before, if only to talk once more with the mystery known as Keith.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part two eventually, perhaps? This could also just be a standalone fic so I'm still debating. Would y'all want another chapter?


	2. Romelle, You Bitch!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance and Romelle return to the make-up shop, and Lance tries to work up the courage to ask Keith out.

Lance came into the shop more often after that. It was sporadic at first, him coming in two more times that same month whenever he could get Romelle free. They decided on a schedule however, in which they'd go out to get their makeup done before roaming the rest of the mall and talking about any cute people they'd run in with. They did this every other Friday, to keep things organised.

Romelle noticed that, while she would rant about cute girls she had seen, he stayed almost completely silent. That was new.

"Still thinking about your boyfriend?" she teased. "You know you could always, dare I say, talk to him?"

"I talk to him plenty!"

"Uh huh, doesn't stop you daydreaming about him. Take him out or something already, jeez."

"Oh, like you're any better," he retorted, eyebrows scrunched together. 

"Ya got me there, bud."

They continued walking in a comfortable silence, making their way through the mall. Lance was stalling going to the small make-up shop. Not because he didn't want to, but he was nervous. Truth be told, he had been trying to work up the courage to ask out Keith.

"Earth to little bitch? We're here, you going in with me or are you still stuck on Mars?" Lance snapped out of his thoughts and she laughed.

"I'm coming, chill." He shook his head a bit, a smile creeping onto his face as he hopped into the store.

They walked to the desk, to find the shop had been particularly slow today. They walked to their normal chairs after being addressed, and greeted the workers. Along with Keith and Allura, the man working the desk was called Coran- Allura's uncle, according to Romelle.

After saying hi to everyone, Lance threw a teasing comment to Keith. "Miss your prince charming?"

"You wish, loverboy. We both know I'm the one who makes you so handsome." He chuckled, and Lance felt himself doing the same, both of them falling into their signature banter.

Lance decided to try a more bold look today, with a bright blue eyeshadow surrounding his eyes. He was sure Keith could pull it off, but he was still nervous. His foot bounced as Keith blended in the concealer.

He wanted to ask Keith out, should he do that after he was finished? How would he slip it into conversation? Would Keith even say yes? Was it too early to ask him out? They'd known each other for a couple months now, but their friendship- could you call it that? He thought Keith was a friend, but they never hung out outside of his work- whatever it was, it didn't develop like most of Lance's friendships.

"You good there?" Keith's voice stayed steady, but Lance could detect a trace of concern.

"I'm good, just thinking."

"Must take a lot of work for you," Keith muttered jokingly, and Lance mocked offense.

"Excuse you? Should you really be saying such rude things to a customer? Allura! Is he always this rude to people?"

"Yes," she answered, without hesitating or bothering to look up. Lance snickered and Keith lightly smacked his forehead.

"Stay still, I don't need to fuck up your face anymore than it is."

"Mm, really? Because I'm pretty sure just last month you were calling my face gorgeous," Lance smirked and gave a small wink.

"Stay still." Keith flushed red and moved his eyes away from Lance's, instead trying to focus on doing his highlight. He shook his head, trying not to laugh or sputter.

They continued to joke and mess with each other, occasionally dragging Romelle and Allura into the teasing. It was fun and felt completely natural to them, and it was absurd to Lance that he'd only known Keith and Allura for a month, rather than years. Laughing with Keith may have messed up his make-up slightly, but he wouldn't trade it for the world.

His heart skipped a beat each time Keith laughed.

He thought over, once again, how he might ask Keith out. He should probably wait 'til later, he decided, maybe come here one time without Romelle- he definitely did not need her teasing him about how awkward he'd undoubtedly be.

Lance tuned back into the conversation, hearing Allura ramble on about how she used to do face painting at school events and that was how she eventually got into make-up.

Keith stood silently, almost laser-focused on Lance's face. A small smile rested on his face, and Lance noticed that he had a dimple on the right side of his face.

Adorable, he thought.

While Romelle and Allura rambled on, Lance began to feel slightly uncomfortable with the silence between him and Keith. Their faces were too close, which felt much too intimate when they weren't talking.

"Hey Keith," he started, voice trailing off. What was he even going to ask? Think, think!

"Yeah Lance?" His voice was soft and focused, and Lance felt his face heat up.

"When did you first start doing make-up? Got a lot of sisters or something," he asked. Better that than nothing, he supposed. It was a logical question, and he had wanted to ask for a while anyways.

"Actually," Keith shifted in order to get a better angle with his brush, "I have a brother." He chuckled. "And he likes his wings to be, and I quote--" 

He moved away from Lance's face, gave a side smile and raised an eyebrow. "'Big enough to fly away from all his problems.'"

Lance giggled, trying to suppress it, before letting out a sharp laugh. "He sounds amazing," Lance managed between laughs.

He tried to imagine what this guy could look like. He was Keith's brother, so surely he shared some of his build, right? He assumed he also had black hair, would he have the same violet eyes?

"He really isn't," Keith grumbled, though it was laced with fondness. "But yeah, I did his make-up for a while, because he's dysfunctional." Lance laughed again.

"And that's how you learned all this?"

"That," Keith moved in closer to Lance, continuing with his make-up now that he was no longer laughing. "But also, I used to babysit. Not really babysit, they were generally 12 or older, but ya know."

Lance tried to imagine Keith taking care of a bunch of kids, though that image quickly warped into he and Keith raising kids of their own and- focus, Lance!

"There were a couple people I watched, but the one I remember most is this one family who I babysat for almost every week. They had two kids, though the oldest lived out of town for college. Anyways, I babysat their other kid for a good while, and I'd always get asked to do make-up, from both of them actually. Parents didn't want them doing their make-up, but the younger one always looked really sad about that, so we bent a few rules," he spoke with a fond voice, and Lance swore he almost melted.

"Do you remember their names," Lance queried. He didn't know why he was so curious, but they were obviously important to Keith, and he wanted to get to know him.

"Their oldest son is named Matt," he said, smiling. He closed his eyes for a moment and just reminisced. "I haven't talked to either of them in years though," he mumbled. "Their parents got upset with me one day, 'cause of the whole make-up thing, and hired a new babysitter so…" His voice trailed off.

Lance thought for a moment, confused. The main thing he couldn't piece together, was how he didn't remember the younger one's name. That's who he actually babysat, right? It may not be important, sure, but it didn't quite add up.

"Why'd you quit babysitting? From how it sounds, you really liked doing it."

"I did, but I had to stop for personal reasons and get an actual job." Keith laughed, though it had no humor in it. His expression looked far off, and he had stopped putting powder on Lance's face a while ago.

The response was vague, and Lance was definitely curious about these 'personal reasons,' because, if anything, that gave him more questions than answer.

He let the topic drop though, because Keith seemed to be getting upset. They kept talking though, until eventually Lance and Romelle were both done getting their make-up done and it was time for them to leave.

"Bye Keith! Bye 'Llura," he said, happy after getting to spend time with them- and no, it wasn't just because he liked Keith. Hanging out with them was a good refresher, and they got along well.

Maybe they should plan a group hang out.

Lance and Romelle left the shop, both waving enthusiastically as they walked away. Once they were out of range of the shop, Romelle turned to Lance and smirked.

"You didn't do it, did you?"

"I tried to Romi, I really did! But what if he doesn't like me like that? What if, what if he doesn't even like guys?!"

"So what you're saying," she started, and crossed her arms "--is that you're a coward."

Lance sighed, pouting and crossing his arms. "Yes, okay, I'm a coward, you happy?"

"Yes!" She giggled. "Also, while you were too busy being a little bitch--" Lance started to object, but she just cut him off again. "--I got a date with a goddess!"

"Wait wait wait, what?! Who?"

She looked at him, unamused, as he frantically waved his arms. "Who the fuck do ya think Sherlock? I'll give you a clue, I've talked to exactly one girl today."

Lance shook his head, blinking in disbelief. "Allura?! Wha- how?"

"Literally just asked dumbass, something I'm starting to believe you don't know how to do."

Lance thought back to their body language, and the way they'd talk. How had he not realised was up something before? Romelle was his best friend for God's sake! He'd had to deal with a million of her gay panics, he should have noticed one so obvious! Though, in his defense, he had been a bit… preoccupied.

He also thought back to Keith and Allura. He really thought they were dating! I mean, it only made sense. They ran a freaking make-up shop together! Then again, he supposes people could do stuff like that platonically-- he had lived with his friend Hunk a couple years, and they ran a small bakery on the outskirts of town. So yeah, okay, friends could run shops together. Plus, the fact that they weren't dating gave him more of a chance with Keith, though he still didn't know if he was into guys.

Lance groaned, looking at the floor. "This is so stupid! How is it so easy for you?!" He huffed and furrowed his eyebrows, mumbling angrily. "Can't believe you got a date before me."

She smiled at him, patting him on the back as they walked towards a Forever 21. "I can, you're a clown and a coward," she said happily, running into the store as Lance stood shocked for a few seconds, before chasing after her.

"Romelle, you bitch!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, wow, this got more attention than expected.
> 
> I'd like to tell you all, this book will be only from Lance's POV to keep everything uniform, but I may do a rewrite from Keith's POV, since there are some things that'll make a lot more sense if you actually know what he's thinking. 
> 
> That all depends on how well this one does and if you want to see it, though.
> 
> P.S: kinda wondering if y'all can guess who keith babysat :) :)


End file.
